Ex-fed agent who faked marriage for citizenship sentenced

DETROIT -- A former federal agent who pleaded guilty to faking a marriage to gain U.S. citizenship and improperly searching FBI databases was sentenced Tuesday to pay $975 in fines and other fees, but will serve no prison time.

U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn said Nada Nadim Prouty, 38, "erred in judgment" 19 years ago when she lied to enter the U.S. in 1989 from her native Lebanon, but has provided "exemplary service to the country" as a federal agent.

Cohn also signed an order revoking Prouty's citizenship, but Prouty's attorney Thomas Cranmer said after the hearing she will not be deported.

Government officials have said they would not deport her because of her knowledge about matters of national security. U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Gina Balaya said Tuesday her immigration status was "in limbo."

Cohn criticized media accounts of the case as well as the "excessiveness of press releases" issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office, which he said "grossly distorted" the case.

Balaya said there would be no comment on Cohn's remarks.

He also read an excerpt of a letter from an unnamed former CIA colleague, who cited her dedication while working in Iraq in 2003 when the insurgency was spreading and the agency was "understaffed and underappreciated" in Washington.

"This is sufficient punishment in light of the totality of the circumstances," Cohn said.

Prouty, formerly of Taylor, and now of Vienna, Va., pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy to defraud the U.S., unauthorized computer access and naturalization fraud.

Prouty told the judge she accepted full responsibility for her actions but has not betrayed her country.

"I accept full responsibility for my error in my judgment," Prouty said. "I admit I made a mistake. ... But I'm not or have never been disloyal to the United States in any way, shape or form."

Prouty hugged crying friends and family members after the verdict but declined to comment.

U.S. attorneys and agents also left the court without commenting.

While working as a special agent, authorities say Prouty improperly searched an FBI computer database for information about her relatives and possible links to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. She joined the CIA in 2003 and resigned as part of her guilty plea.

Prouty was not authorized to search the database for her name and that of her sister, Elfat El Aouar, and brother-in-law, Talal Chahine. Chahine was the owner of the former LaShish Middle Eastern restaurant chain.

Chahine is believed to have fled to Lebanon in 2005 to avoid federal tax charges. He is accused of skimming more than $20 million in cash and sending it to Lebanon.

Elfat El Aouar was sentenced last May to 18 months in prison for tax evasion and sentenced to 90 days in prison and stripped of her citizenship in February after pleading guilty to citizenship fraud.

There is no evidence that Prouty was working as a spy on behalf of any terrorist organization or foreign intelligence service, Cohn said.

In a related case, Cohn on Monday sentenced Samar Spinelli to $700 in fines and costs but no prison time for conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and passport fraud.

The Lebanese-born Marine captain, who accepted a plea deal in December, lived with Prouty and El Aouar in Taylor when prosecutors say she entered a bogus 1990-1995 marriage with Jean Deladurantaye.